Low-paid workers in the UK are less likely to belong to a pension scheme than their higher-paid colleagues, a report has found.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 21% of men and 32% of women earning less than £300 a week were in employer pension schemes. 1.7 million men are in full time jobs which pay less than £300 a week, compared to 1.9 million women.

One reason that a higher proportion of low-paid women contribute to a company pension scheme than men is that more women work in the public sector, where membership of pension schemes is higher.

However, the ONS figures showed that men and women on higher salaries were far more likely to have signed up to a scheme.

Of those whose gross earnings totalled £600 a week or more, 76% of men and 82% of women belonged to an employer-sponsored scheme.

In order to diminish the effects of a potential pensions ‘time bomb’ the government is planning to launch a new national pension scheme in 2012. The scheme, called Personal Accounts, will ensure that employees who do not already belong to a good company pension scheme top up their state pension with a proportion of their income. Contributions will be paid on earnings between £5,000 and £33,500 per annum, with an annual ceiling on total contributions of £3,600.

Personal Accounts is part of a wider pension shake-up which also involves raising the age of retirement to 68.
Commenting on the ONS findings, a spokesperson for the Department of Work and Pensions said: “These figures highlight the need for our reforms to the UK pensions system to ensure that more people are able to save for their retirement.”

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